The folks at Mythic recently posted an introduction to role playing which gives a few pieces of advice to players who may not have tried the RP aspect of an MMORPG before.

If the title of this article has drawn you in, then you might be a perfect candidate to give roleplaying a try! Perhaps you are a skilled roleplayer, with years of experience at your back and hordes of characters. Maybe you simply love the Warhammer world and story, and you thought that this game would be a good opportunity to develop one character that could be living, evolving and growing in this exciting setting ... or perhaps you don’t have much experience with it at all, but the concept of ‘roleplay’ intrigues you, and you are reading this searching for some insight on the matter. Whatever the case, there is something you must know about this guide; this is not a general roleplay guide. It is focused and directed to a specific kind of roleplay style, which is, of course, online roleplaying within an MMORPG.

Read on to learn about how you can delve into the exciting world of roleplaying!

We first need to point out that there are several differences between online roleplaying and classic roleplaying around a table. In the usual roleplaying sessions, the players can see each other. You have the aid of your voice, your gestures, your physical movement and your interpretative skills to enhance and represent the details of the character that you represent. All this disappears when you roleplay online; this is perceived often as an inconvenience, but it can also be used to your advantage, let me explain:

Sometimes when a character is created, players find some restrictions that can be very hard to surpass for them. Perhaps you have trouble portraying a character of the opposite gender; perhaps you are simply shy and the idea of classic, social roleplay seems like a mighty task for you. All of this does not matter when you are online; your physical representation is a 3D model that we call an ‘avatar’. Avatars have no restrictions except those of the game that you are playing in. Hence, you can be whatever character you want, and others won’t be distracted by your real appearance. For the same reason, you lose all the benefits that the real, physical presence could provide you when it is time to become your in-game persona. So without further ado, here are some quick steps to get started with online roleplaying, and not get lost in the process.

Read the Guide to Roleplaying in Warhammer Online.

Hilarious! This was a really funny read. Its an article basicly telling people how to pretend that they are playing a totally different game to the one they actually purchased. This article could be applied to ANY game on the planet. Why not just load up Halo online and pretend that your an elf lord that stepped through a magic portal from Middle Earth. You could stop at each tree you come across and pretend that there are pixies living in it which give you advice on how to save the land.......oh and your personal background can be that you need to find your way back to Middle Earth and the only way to do it is to destroy the Halo ring because actually when The One Ring was cast into the volcano back in Middle Earth it actually got sneaked through a magic portal by naughty Sauron and became the ring structure in the Halo universe.

Or you could stop being a silly twat and just get on with playing the game you paid money for.

Roleplaying in mmos has always been utterly pointless. Of course theres no harm in pretending to play an imaginary game in your head and pretending that its happening on the screen in front of you even though it isnt because the game doesnt support that kind of gameplay. Utterly pointless activities can be fun for some people. If I buy a game I generally prefer to play the game I purchased rather than pretend it is something else but each to their own of course.

But Warhammer Online?! Of all the mmos to write an article about how to roleplay in this has got to be the most funniest one. Telling people how to use their own imagination is quite amusing but writing a guide on how to apply that imagination to a game which isnt capable of responding to any of these wonderful and creative ideas is just hilarious.

But by all means "roleplay" away to your hearts content. Type endless streams of imaginative text into the chat bar. You're much better off playing an actual roleplaying game though.

Originally posted by neonwire

Hilarious! This was a really funny read. Its an article basicly telling people how to pretend that they are playing a totally different game to the one they actually purchased. This article could be applied to ANY game on the planet. Why not just load up Halo online and pretend that your an elf lord that stepped through a magic portal from Middle Earth. You could stop at each tree you come across and pretend that there are pixies living in it which give you advice on how to save the land.......oh and your personal background can be that you need to find your way back to Middle Earth and the only way to do it is to destroy the Halo ring because actually when The One Ring was cast into the volcano back in Middle Earth it actually got sneaked through a magic portal by naughty Sauron and became the ring structure in the Halo universe.

Or you could stop being a silly twat and just get on with playing the game you paid money for.

Roleplaying in mmos has always been utterly pointless. Of course theres no harm in pretending to play an imaginary game in your head and pretending that its happening on the screen in front of you even though it isnt because the game doesnt support that kind of gameplay. Utterly pointless activities can be fun for some people. If I buy a game I generally prefer to play the game I purchased rather than pretend it is something else but each to their own of course.

But Warhammer Online?! Of all the mmos to write an article about how to roleplay in this has got to be the most funniest one. Telling people how to use their own imagination is quite amusing but writing a guide on how to apply that imagination to a game which isnt capable of responding to any of these wonderful and creative ideas is just hilarious.

But by all means "roleplay" away to your hearts content. Type endless streams of imaginative text into the chat bar. You're much better off playing an actual roleplaying game though.

RPing in MMORPGs is pointless?  Isn't simply playing an MMO pointless?  What's the point to playing an MMO?

Did you say "fun"?

Guess what the point to RPing is?

Originally posted by CrankyViking

Originally posted by neonwire

Hilarious! This was a really funny read. Its an article basicly telling people how to pretend that they are playing a totally different game to the one they actually purchased. This article could be applied to ANY game on the planet. Why not just load up Halo online and pretend that your an elf lord that stepped through a magic portal from Middle Earth. You could stop at each tree you come across and pretend that there are pixies living in it which give you advice on how to save the land.......oh and your personal background can be that you need to find your way back to Middle Earth and the only way to do it is to destroy the Halo ring because actually when The One Ring was cast into the volcano back in Middle Earth it actually got sneaked through a magic portal by naughty Sauron and became the ring structure in the Halo universe.

Or you could stop being a silly twat and just get on with playing the game you paid money for.

Roleplaying in mmos has always been utterly pointless. Of course theres no harm in pretending to play an imaginary game in your head and pretending that its happening on the screen in front of you even though it isnt because the game doesnt support that kind of gameplay. Utterly pointless activities can be fun for some people. If I buy a game I generally prefer to play the game I purchased rather than pretend it is something else but each to their own of course.

But Warhammer Online?! Of all the mmos to write an article about how to roleplay in this has got to be the most funniest one. Telling people how to use their own imagination is quite amusing but writing a guide on how to apply that imagination to a game which isnt capable of responding to any of these wonderful and creative ideas is just hilarious.

But by all means "roleplay" away to your hearts content. Type endless streams of imaginative text into the chat bar. You're much better off playing an actual roleplaying game though.

 

RPing in MMORPGs is pointless?  Isn't simply playing an MMO pointless?  What's the point to playing an MMO?

Did you say "fun"?

Guess what the point to RPing is?

Whats the point of playing an mmo? Well in every game there are goals that the players can strive to achieve. They can play through the story by completing the quests and defeating the monsters and they can do battle with other players......in other words whatever the game ACTUALLY allows them to do.

Or.......you can "pretend" that you are playing a different game by typing "Oh look a 7 headed elephant just came out of that cave and is charging into that tavern nearby! Oh no! Quick everyone stop the charging 7 headed elephant"

"But how do we stop it?! We cant see it because it isnt there!"

"Oh but it IS there you fool! I'm a roleplayer and I'm having fun with my imagination! Woohoo!"

"Ermmm......no your an idiot. Why dont you just play the game instead? How about helping me with this quest which IS actually happening"

"But I AM playing the game you silly billy. I'm a roleplayer! yayyyy!!! Use your imagination and pretend you can see it too! I know......I will help you! You see that chair in the far corner of the room! Well it just sat on it and smashed it! Oh gosh! Now the tavern owner is furious and he's whacking it with a broom! Oh no! The 7 headed elephant just ate him! Oh how dreadful"

"But why are you paying a monthly fee to talk shit about shit that isnt happening? You could do that for free in a yahoo chat room"

"Oh no but there is all the lore to get immersed in. Dont forget the lore. You dont get that in a yahoo chat room do you"

"Yeah but the lore is just story details that got typed up by the Mythic team to try and add the illusion of substance to compensate for the fact that there isnt any"

"Oh your such a bore ya know. Oh look over there! Whats that?! Its a giant 10 mile wide apricot floating in the sky thats shaped like.....like.....ermmm......yeah I know......its shaped like an elephant!"

"You've got a thing about elephants havent you. You're also a bit demented. Well I'll leave you to stand here and pretend to play an imaginary game. I'm off to play this real game which I paid for. Cya"

Like I said. Each to their own.

Neonwire has a point to an extent.  Role-playing is only as good as the tools that are given to you.

Clothing, Emotes, Events, Character Customization, and just other design elements in general are all important to role-playing.  Gear, Titles, Ranks, can only go so far into immersing a player.

You know I do enjoy roleplaying, but the last place I would roleplay would be Warhammer.  The game is in my opinion probably as unsuited for roleplay as any I have played.

I know that Mythic wants the roleplaying crowd because they stick around a lot longer than many other groups, but I just find it absurd they think the roleplay crowd will play warhammer.

Sorry if I stepped on some toes that actually roleplay in Warhammer, just expressing my opinion. 

Originally posted by observer

Neonwire has a point to an extent.  Role-playing is only as good as the tools that are given to you.

Clothing, Emotes, Events, Character Customization, and just other design elements in general are all important to role-playing.  Gear, Titles, Ranks, can only go so far into immersing a player.

Absolutely. Believe it or not but I actually like roleplaying. I love the idea of creating a character, bringing it into a fantasy world and acting out the part to make the experience as immersive as possible. However in virtually every mmo I have seen this is completely impossible to do. The best that can be managed is this pathetic and desperate "lite" roleplaying that we constantly see in mmos, where people have to actually pretend that something is happening by typing it into the chat bar to compensate for the fact that they just simply cannot do what they need to do to have a real roleplaying experience. It just doesnt make any sense at all to me to go to such extreme lengths to try and kid yourself that the game you are playing is actually a roleplaying game when it clearly isnt.

I understand some peoples desperation to use their imagination and roleplay but its blatantly obvious that the games we currently have are NOT designed for roleplayers at all. The tools and game mechanics just simply are not there.......and no having a load of emotes just doesnt cut it. A real roleplaying game needs to support roleplaying with actions which actually have an effect on things, not just simply adding a load of meaningless fluff which means nothing at all.

The sad thing is that mmos simply need to be designed as roleplaying games to begin with. It actually doesnt require super-dupa technology or AI. It just needs good planning and design. Unfortunately all the mmos we have seen so far cater purely to telling stories, guiding the players along through pre-determined quests and of course killing things.....killing lots and lots of things. The devs would need to actually make roleplaying an essential part of the game rather than an optional one. Of course this would mean alienating all the people that have no creativity or imagination from their playerbase and thats a LOT of people.......so we will probably continue to see these non-rp mmos for a very long time.

Oh and I am well aware of what the typical so-called "roleplayer" would say to that.

"Oh well I have a GREAT time roleplaying in mmos. We made up some great stories and had lots of fun pretending that we were doing stuff for hours on end. You just have to use your imagination"

To which I say "Yes using your imagination is great. However I prefer to put my creative energies into things where my input actually matters and I can see a result from using my imagination.....such as doing a drawing, creating a 3d model or (dare I say it) playing a roleplaying game"

A roleplaying guide from a game that has no sitting and no walking?  Color me a bit surprised.

The game wasn't bad, but I left because, as an old-school roleplayer, the game was just too shallow and didn't support roleplaying enough.

 It is quite interesting to read a role playing piece from Warhammer. Warhammer is PvP. Capture and conquer. While there is teamplay comraderie ( Destruction is going to cap Tier 4, need help!)

----enter population cap---

DENIED

I find it difficult to make this game a suitable atomosphere for role playing. Public Quests, for example, while they are innovative. They just don't seem to spark any means for role playing. You may have 4 quests in your journal from different NPCs in different areas that direct you to the PQ, but it doesn't get you in the role playing mood.

If the enemy factions could exchange some preprogrammed smack talk, that might get one in the mood.

The Tome of KNowledge could spark some role playing if it offered more than some title badges and kill 10,000 beastes for a tactic slot and to guess what, give you some smidgeon of an advantage to kill more of the same beasties.

Just a marketing article IMO

Wow. First a "Crafting" guide, and now this. Talk about trying to get blood from a stone.

Because I'm the helpful sort, I'll streamline it a bit...

1. The Look: Congratulations! You've hit your first stumbling block. You will look the same as every other character of your race, gender, and class, with a couple of minor differences if you're lucky. Your gear will look the same as everyone's as well. Feel free to tell strangers you have a skull shaped birthmark on your left buttock if it makes you feel any better.

2. The Background: There's nowhere in game to write this for other players to read. You could just type it out every time you join a party, but you'll get kicked halfway through because no one cares. Skip it.

3. The Personality: You're a dude. You kill stuff. You enjoy grinding scenarios for renown and doing the first 2 parts of every public quest because you can't find anyone to help you finish it.  Sometimes you join a scenario and just stand at the entrance to sponge off others... err.."pray to Sigmar for victory".

4. What you cannot see: Isn't there. And no one's looking for it.

5. The Art of Description: Well, I guess there are emotes in this game after all. I played for 2 months without seeing any. Well, except for seeing "(Player Name) does something special" come up in the chat window sometimes. Oh, the immersion....

Next, try writing a background for your Rebel Pilot in "Star Wars Battlefront"

While this is apparently a market scheme that they release this and most people see the roleplay element as abhorred and pointless, Warhammer was one of those classic firsts in the Roleplaying-Games realm.

True, any chatroom or even a pencil and paper can provide just as much of a roleplaying experience. The game is suited for PvP and even higher PvE than.. evidently just standing around known friends in a random spot in a lowbie zone to just act like a meniacal villain - not a bloody retard exclaiming at imaginary elephants, apricots, or Middle Earth. I defend this article to that point, as much of what I've read down to here that scoffs it has been quite stupid.

Also true, why play the game if you're not really playing the game? Imagination isn't just a brick concept anymore. I want to say some what I heard here almost sounds conservative. "No, you may not think for yourself and be original within the parameters." But in saying that I doubt it'll make sense to those it is intended for and will go straight over their heads.

Still a sham, though. Sadly. But if there are RPer's on WoW, I don't see the shame in WAR viably 'supporting' their own.

RolePlaying in WAR?  nah, the game doesn't lend itself to that.  WoW is storyline-oriented enough in many places that you can do it on quests or when traveling but even then the mechanics of mmo grouping will require you to break character and talk about stats and icons or whatever.